Border Patrol seizes bundles of cash at I-10 checkpoint

LAS CRUCES — U.S. Border Patrol agents have seized nearly $270,000 in cash during an inspection at a checkpoint along Interstate 10 in southern New Mexico.

Agents found 17 vacuum sealed bundles of money hidden in a rear quarter panel while inspecting a semi-truck that was hauling vehicles.

The truck driver denied knowing anything about the money. The cash and the vehicles were seized by the Border Patrol.

This week's bust followed another in which agents found 18 large bundles of marijuana and a backpack containing nearly $5,000 in cash during another inspection of a semi-truck along N.M. Highway 26. The 429 pounds of marijuana had an estimated value of $343,000.

In that case, authorities say the driver, truck, drugs and money were all turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.